Summary

Welcome to Free Language's whirlwind tour about learning Spanish online for free. This is the third video screencast about learning languages for free. See all of them here.

This video will take you through some top essential resources for learning Spanish for free online. View the links below the video to access the resources highlighted in this video.

Here we cover places to find general resources, where to get learning materials, finding plenty of content online to expose yourself to the language and recommend the SpanishPod podcast for audio on-the-go as well as community atmosphere.

Spanish exercises, kid's games, interactive tools, news sources, radio stations, Web TV... it's all here. Enjoy!

Screencast Video

Helpful Links for this Screencast

General Resouces

http://freelanguage.org/spanish
http://freelanguage.org/learn/spanishpod

Social

http://www.palabea.net/spanish
http://www.italki.com/learn-spanish/en-us
http://www.livemocha.com

Lessons

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/tv

Radio, Podcast

http://freelanguage.org/learn/spanishpod
http://www.listenlive.eu/spain.html
http://www.learn-spanish-help.com/Spanish-radio.html
http://www.radiotower.com
http://www.rollingrs.com/category/free

More Practice

http://www.studyspanish.com

Kids, Child, Games

http://onlinefreespanish.com

More Links

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/languages/1-6-4-7.html
http://teachinglearningspanish.blogspot.com/2009/08/20-free-online-resources-for-spanish.html

Newsletter

http://freelanguage.org/the-free-language-letter

Summary

From beginner to advanced levels, SpanishPod101.com is an excellent, all-around online environment for learning Spanish. The Pod101 platform, method and technology provide the necessary tools to get you immersed in the Spanish language and achieve the goals you desire and/or require.

Since SpanishPod101.com is web-based, you can access your personal Spanish Learning Center from anywhere, and it's really easy to download the podcasts and put them on your mp3 player (iPod, Zune, etc) or mobile phone to take them with you for practice and learning on the go.

One of the most important things when learning a language is good content - and SpanishPod101.com has this, and a steady flow of it. This constant flow of fresh content regards cultural aspects of Spanish you will want to know, interesting tidbits about navigating in Spanish society (whether on vacation or living abroad), practical information about getting by and much more.

Your Spanish Learning Center brings together audio podcast lessons, lesson notes and checklists, transcripts, PDFs, video lessons, vocabulary training with flashcards and quizzes plus a Spanish dictionary, grammar bank, a verb reference and plenty more.

And if you enjoy asking questions and learning from and helping other learners, a forum is available for all users.

It's simple to try it for free and upgrade if it works for you.

From Website

At SpanishPod101.com, our goal is to make learning the Spanish language easy and fun, while also incorporating culture and current issues into our lessons. We believe that the more you speak, the quicker you learn, so we have designed our program to get you speaking right away. Situational Spanish is heavily stressed, and our team role plays various situations to demonstrate the proper form of Spanish to use when speaking with friends, customers, executives, and so-on. Knowing the proper form to use separates good speakers from great speakers.

SpanishPod101.com was developed with the hope of showing the world how fun and easy learning Spanish can be. Here at SpanishPod101.com, we truly believe that learning can be fun, while at the same time convenient. We know how busy you are and that each day brings unexpected surprises. That is exactly why we bring the lessons to you and let you decide when they start.

Our innovative, fun, and easy to use language learning system is designed to get you speaking and interacting from the very first lesson. Learn Spanish at your own convenience and pace with short, effective, fun daily lessons and a comprehensive, state-of-the-art Learning Center that provides you with the tools to take your Spanish to the next level! Our interactive learning system consists of free daily audio podcast lessons, accompanying PDF materials, a Premium Learning Center, and a vibrant user community.

Our Method

SpanishPod101.com offers a unique learning experience that cannot be found in conventional classrooms. In addition to offering lessons that can be completed on your own time, we approve all of the content we release through a government certified Spanish teacher. Here are just a few of the revolutionary advantages of our method:

Exposure to native speakers and many different kinds of voices and speaking styles…

SpanishPod101.com aims to have you speaking Spanish after just one lesson! Our lessons focus on pronunciation and listening comprehension, so that you can start practicing what you learn from our professional teachers. Inside the PDF you will find the necessary tools for reading comprehension, and thorough explanations of phrases and key grammar points, in addition to segments on cultural insight. To address speaking practice, we have state-of-the-art software to allow you to record your own voice so you can compare your pronunciation to our teachers and continue to refine your speaking skills.

When all the aspects of SpanishPod101.com are put together, this program provides students of Spanish with ultimate self-study learning course. In addition, we often provide conversations between three people to more closely simulate real-life situations.

Fresh, up-to-date content...

Many Spanish teachers who live overseas have been out of the country for a long period of time and can be “out of the loop” on current words, culture, etc. This is another major gap that we fill. Lessons are carefully crafted to include current events, words, celebrities, and so-on. This is very dynamic content.

Borderless education on-demand...

We also fill a definite demand in remote locations. Our lessons provide you with a mobile classroom, as we bring you Spanish on Demand. Spanish lessons wherever you may be.

SpanishPod101.com offers our listeners a unique learning experience that delivers cutting-edge, dynamic content to be accessed at your convenience. With the inclusion of our lesson notes and Learning Center, we offer a full solution that provides the material, guidance, exercises, and testing to really make the knowledge your own. And it doesn’t even stop there - our vibrant and extremely helpful community provide each other not only quick answers to questions, but also give each other a sense of encouragement and motivation that is often lacking.

We focus on Spanish, and Spanish only...

Just Spanish! All we do is Spanish. SpanishPod101.com is not a generic package language learning course, such as some of the other big name language learning programs out there. Many other programs “scale” their solutions across several languages, simply recycling the same material over and over - the same pictures, the same conversations, just in a different language. But each language is unique, and at SpanishPod101.com we pride ourselves on developing a system that’s only about the Spanish language and Spanish culture!

One stop studying...

Have you ever found yourself lost on the information highway? Sometimes it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose! Hundreds of bookmarks, all with varying levels of quality and credibility. You finally find a great site, but it only updates once a year! SpanishPod101.com offers users one stop studying. The learning center has been carefully designed to provide you with the resources you will need to take your Spanish to the next level.

Visit SpanishPod101.com.

Summary

Apple recently released a new section of the wildly popular iTunes Store available through their iTunes software. This new section is called iTunes U, and collects podcasts from numerous universities and colleges to make them available for free download to your iPod or other mp3 player, mobile/cell phone, etc.

One of the sub-sections of iTunes U is (note: you need iTunes for this link to work) specifically for languages and language education - yay!

Currently there are 60 podcasts (probably more by the time you read this) available regarding both learning foreign languages as well as general topics regarding language in general. Many of these podcasts are called OpenCourseWare, considered Open Learning materials released in the Public Domain. This means they can be used truly freely by teachers and educators without worries about copyright issues - a big plus! Be sure to look at the license for each podcast to make sure of the licensing.

The podcast-based current courses available through iTunes U are English (Medieval and ESL), French, German, Greek, Japanese, Hebrew (various), Italian (Language and Theater), Romanian, Spanish (various) plus Language Technology and Lectures, Interviews, Clubs, Lectionary at Lunch and Storytelling Colombian Style. There are many more, too.

This is really exciting to see at this professional education level. Of couse, add this to the 982 language podcasts in the "regular" (non-iTunes U) iTunes store and that makes over a whopping 1,000 language-related podcasts for download through iTunes - all free. :)

Watch the iTunes U intro video below to learn more about this new feature:

From iTunes U

iTunes U puts the power of the iTunes Store to work for colleges and universities, so users can easily search, download, and play course content just like they do music, movies, and TV shows.

Always in session.

iTunes U delivers easy, 24/7 access to educational content from hundreds of top colleges, universities, and educationally focused organizations across the country. And it’s accessible to anyone with a Mac or PC.

Learning to go.

Students can sync iTunes U content with any iPod or iPhone, so they can go right on learning while they grab a meal, walk to class, or work out at the gym.

Keeps them motivated.

Engaging students on their home turf, iTunes U offers audio and video that make subjects more vivid than any printed page ever could.

Open-minded.

iTunes U lets schools open all or part of their content to the public, from parents to alumni to anyone with a love of learning.

Find out more about iTunes U.

Summary

Spanish News Bites offers quite interesting and varied audio news articles regarding Spain and Latin America. These are free, naturally.

It's a Spanish-speaking-world news source, a podcast and a written lesson all in one.

From Website

Spanish NewsBites is a free language-learning website designed to help you learn Spanish at the same time as you learn about what's happening TODAY throughout Spain and Latin America, whether you're a student or a teacher, or whether you're learning Spanish for fun.

So what's the Spanish NewsBites recipe? If you want to know more, click "Continue Reading" below. If you're returning to Spanish NewsBites and you're already in the know, just scroll down this page a few centimeters to read our latest entry. (You'll find one every couple of days.)

So just what is the Spanish NewsBites recipe?

• Three to four times a week, we choose a news story from Spain or Latin America and adapt it for language learners. Often, it's the kind of story you won't easily find anywhere in English.
• Then we add mouse rollover translation into English of key vocabulary. To see how this works, just roll your mouse over these words in bold.
• Then we prepare an audio transcript of the text for you to follow. This can be done straight from your browser, or it can be downloaded as an MP3 file.
• Then we add a PDF file of the text and glossary, so you can print it out and take it away with you.
• Then we add links which we think will give a little further context and generally enhance your reading.
• Then we add an online self-correction exercise.
• The news stories are classified into categories by theme or by Spanish level - beginner, intermediate or advanced. So you can choose what you read according to your interests or your level.

Visit Spanish News Bites.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Spanish NewsBites.

Summary

The LingQ language-learning platform is among the most intentionally-created foreign language education products available. Developed by reknowned polyglot linguist Steve Kaufmann and company, LingQ is an excellent way to learn Spanish using materials you choose yourself!

In fact, this is where LingQ excels as an educational platform because students can import any license-free content they want to base their lessons around. This means that the students decide what subjects and topics they wish to learn about based on professional needs and/or personal interests.

The particular podcast highlighted in this article is SpanishLingQ, a roughly weekly podcast with mp3 audio content for Spanish language learners. Transcripts of the podcasts are available through LingQ, and can also serve as learning content themselves.

One additional advantage of the LingQ system is that for a single subscription, you can use their web-based platform to learn ten languages (and growing) including Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

From Website

What is SpanishLingQ?

First of all, the name itself (which is pronounced Spanish Link) needs a little explaining. The first part, “Spanish”, is fairly obvious since we teach Spanish. LingQ is the name of our online learning system which you can find at LingQ.com. At LingQ you’ll study many different languages in a fun, community atmosphere. The “Ling” in LingQ comes from TheLinguist.com the people behind LingQ. Lastly, the “Q” is important because it forms the speech bubble in our logo and throughout our site and because it makes “lingq” sound like “link” (we think!) which is what our system does for you.

At SpanishLingQ...

. we LingQ you to a world of real Spanish content
. we LingQ you to our revolutionary learning tools
. we LingQ you to a community of fellow Spanish learners

Our podcasts may contain interviews, articles, or audiobook excerpts but are most often just general conversations in Spanish. We will usually talk about topics of general interest. Please do send us feedback and topic requests. We’re always happy to hear from you.

After you listen to the podcast, sign up for a free account at LingQ (l-i-n-g-q.com) and study the full transcript using LingQ's revolutionary learning tools.

At LingQ, you may also want to submit writing for correction or join live 1 on 1 and group discussions with our tutors. Plus you will find thousands more podcasts with transcript. Come and find out what LingQ is all about!

Of course, even if you don’t decide to become a member, you can continue listening to the podcasts as long as you like.

Visit LingQ.com

Summary

Voices en Español is a new arrival on the language-learning podcast scene. With a slick and eye-candied website, quality podcast and frequent updates, they seem to be on the right track!

This is a great podcast for improving Spanish conversational skills. Bravo!

Also check out the Spanish-Podcast.com Voices en Español Bilingual Blog.

From Website

My name is Eleena (Elena in Spanish) and I’m so glad you’re here right now, reading my blog. Thanks!

So, what would you like to know? Well, I’m an American and I’m a Spanish fanatic. Say it loud, say it proud! I found religion, the Spanish religion that is, a few years ago during a trip to South America when I fell completely head over heels for the language. It wasn’t my first trip overseas but it was a life-changing one that made me realize how much I wanted to spend my life studying and learning Spanish.

Voices en Español is a blog and a podcast. That’s the short version. The long version is Voices en Español is a place to evangelize the Spanish language. It will be a place with tips on learning the language as well as musings on different topics and interviews with fascinating people from all walks of life in the U.S., Latin America, and, of course, Spain.

Things to remember:

• I’m not a native Spanish speaker, so be gentle with me. I’m a work in progress!
• If there is a particular topic related to the Spanish language that you would like to see addressed, drop me a line. Ditto for people you’d like to hear interviewed.
• Communication is good. Two-way communication is even better! Leave comments on this blog, link to and/or forward my posts, email me, whatever. Just don’t be a stranger!

¡Hasta luego!

Visit Voices en Español Podcast.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Voices en Español Podcast.
Subscribe to Voices en Español Podcast via iTunes.
View Voices en Español Conversational Podcast on Free Language.